'The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick': Flitting Through Dreams of a Writer of the Occult

By ELVIS MITCHELL

Published: March 2, 2001

The prolific science fiction writer Philip K. Dick once called a story "I Can Dream It for You Wholesale," which was eventually made into a film that bore the most minimal of resemblances to it: "Total Recall." "The Gospel According to Philip K. Dick," an affectionate and prosaic documentary on Dick's life and contributions, might as well be called "I Can Dream It for You Cut-Rate."

Dick, who died in 1982, dealt entertainingly with science fiction's great twin subjects, paranoia and delusion. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" became the Ridley Scott visual feast "Blade Runner," and Steven Spielberg has been talking about bringing Dick's "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise, to the screen for a couple of years.

"Gospel," which opens today at Cinema Village, lays out Dick's life as straightforwardly as one of those 60-minute bio quickies that run over and over again on the Learning Channel. There's so much love for this writer and the weirdness in his life that Dick's fans are bound to be won over by the film. Those with only a passing interest may not leave the theater with the same enthusiasm.

"Gospel" presents the events in Dick's life without much insight; perhaps the director, Mark Steensland, and producer, Andy Massagli, realized it would be better to do that than try to analyze the writer's library-sized sheaf of novels and short stories. They interviewed the science fiction writer Robert Anton Wilson and the pop culture maven Paul Williams, who became a minor legend when he published one of the few profiles of Dick, in Rolling Stone in the mid-1970's.

But Mr. Steensland and Mr. Massagli were considerably hamstrung by one undeniable condition: there is not much in the way of interviews with Dick. (No filmed interviews exist; he was incredibly press shy.) So an animated version of Dick behind the typewriter, which suggests a low- budget version of the Cryptkeeper from the "Tales of the Crypt" series, is used, accompanied by an audiotape with snippets of conversation.

That section underscores the minimal amount of money the filmmakers had (reportedly about $10,000) to finish the project, which was shot on videotape and feels even more cheaply done than an episode of "Biography" on A&E.

"Gospel" seems better suited to small-screen viewing. It skims over Dick's life like a speed reader, not taking the time to distinguish between one incident and the next.

Dick himself suffered from paranoia and went through five marriages; even his writing suggests that his life was compartmentalized, and the walls that separated his characters' lives were obviously influenced by his own.

Because his fiction is such a quick, lively read, the makers of " Gospel" wanted to echo the sensation of breezing through pages in the film. But the documentary doesn't get near the prowess of its subject; it passes through your life like a minor daydream.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PHILIP K. DICK

Directed by Mark Steensland; produced by Mr. Steensland and Andy Massagli; released by First Run Features. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 80 minutes. This film is not rated.